Community Assembly of Weymouth

The Community Assembly of Weymouth is located in a seaside town and civil parish in the county of Dorset which is part of the Territory of Kernow. It is situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey, south of the county town of Dorchester. Weymouth is the third-largest settlement in Dorset after Bournemouth and Poole.

The modern town of Weymouth originated as the two settlements of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, on opposite sides of Weymouth Harbour. The older of the two, on the south side, was referred to as Weymouth as early as the 10th century, as part of the parish of Wyke Regis, and by 1252 had become a chartered borough and established seaport, trading in imported wine. Melcombe Regis, on the north side, was first noted in the 11th century. It developed separately from the mid 12th century onwards and in 1310 was a licensed wool port. However, French raiders found the port so accessible that in 1433 the staple was transferred to Poole. Melcombe Regis is thought to be the first port at which the Black Death came into England in June or July 1348, possibly aboard either a spice ship or an army ship from Calais, where fighting was taking place in the Hundred Years' War.

In their early history, the two towns were rivals for trade and industry, and many arguments broke out over use of the harbour. In 1571, Queen Elizabeth I united the two towns in an Act of Parliament, to form a double borough of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. Both towns have become known as Weymouth, despite Melcombe Regis being the main centre.

Henry VIII had two Device Forts built to protect the south Dorset coast from invasion in the 1530s: Sandsfoot Castle in Wyke Regis and Portland Castle in Castletown. Coastal erosion forced the abandonment of Sandsfoot as early as 1665 and parts have since fallen into the sea.